If you've been outside lately, you may have noticed its a little chilly. Me nor my car like this. I was just wondering what tips and tricks I can do to get me and my car through it. Right now my car is running like crap when its cold, it cant barely stay running in the mornings and runs like crap until its warmed up. any suggestions?

 

^^^ Yeah, I'd like to know this as well.

My suggestion is to plug in your block heater (assuming you have one). That's what I do if I know it's going to be really cold. Also, let your car warm up for at least 5 minutes before driving it. I've heard of people cracking their blocks in extreme cold when they didn't warm it up first. Other than this I usually just slap my winter tires on and wait the winter out. I'm in Canada, but fortunately they don't use much salt where I'm from (so I get rust, but not as bad as some places). It's the gravel they put on the roads that takes a toll on my paint.

Also, maybe using a less viscous oil in the winter? I usually just use Mobil 1 Fully Synthetic for high mileage vehicles (I believe it's 10w30)... Maybe some 5w30 would be better for your car in the winter? I'm not sure.

 

you in cincy?


all cars HATE cold. just take it super easy till to coolant, transmission, and oil are fully heated. remember its takes more time for everything to get to op temp when its this cold. suspension, axles, hydraulics, etc.

i personally try not to go over like 1800rpm till its fully warm



e: just read the screen name thread. where about cincy are you?

Loveland/Clifton here

 

You can move. I'm FROM Illinois , now I'm IN Texas.

 

My driver's side door was frozen shut this evening. Had to get in from the passenger side and climb over the center console.

God damn winter.

Venting. Carry on.

 

Any codes thrown?

Your car is broken.
Fix.

 

Oh trust you will have some cold mornings and nights that your car will hate here initially, we have some decently cold days already (nothing like IL though)! I left the Z out last week 1 night and it was tough on it for the 1st 10 secs the next morning.

 

HaHa .. my old Lumina used to do that to me every winter, I remember fondly climbing in through the passenger side, and then the drive side window wouldn't go down as it was frozen shut, to cap off this wonderful morning ritual you would then pull into the gas station to get some gas only to find the damn gas door frozen shut.

OP the best thing has been suggested, give the car the time it needs to warm up properly ... oil should be 5W 30

 

I just did the same as I did last year, spray the schit out of it with Rust Check. Hopefully, that'll keep the rusties away for a few more years.
I spray all the door seams, wheel wells, trunk lid etc.

 

Rust Check... hmm... what type of coating is that? Is it a grease-like coating to stave of rusting?

 

My car is broke. Fix it. Nice suggestion ******* lol.

I havnt hooked it up to check for any codes recently. I know my check engine light is on due to my O2 sensor. Im thinkin I might just need a good old fashion tune up.

And yea shdwonthsun im in cincy. Stay around college hill and work in sharonville. Lets race :-)

 

jowo9 ... Rust Check is a spray you can pick it up at your local Canadian Tire store.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

 

Somebody made a thread about this that got some great replies about a week ago... I'll try to find it.

EDIT: Found it! Here:

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-question.html

Lots of good info in this thread.

 

I can tell you some tips here as I live in calgary ab canada and it was -25 celcius last week so I deal with this 9/12 months a year.

If its below freezing for sure plug in at least an hour before you plan to drive.

If its cold more than half the year or you have $500 burning a hole in your pocket invest in a remote car starter, I've had mine for a year and dont know how I lived without it: I get up and start my car right after I get out of bed, the starter is set for 15 min so it wont keep running any longer than that. I usually get to the car before it turns off and everything is toasty warm and windows are already defrosted. (tip: make sure you leave the heat on max temp when you get out of the car the night before)

5w30 is a must for cold winter temperature, the car will run better I know from experience, I always switch over once it starts to get cold.

Make sure you have at least 50/50 mix of antifreeze... no brainer here.

Also, make sure you have winter winshield washer fluid, the regular stuff will freeze in the line or as you spray it on the windshield.

winter tires.

if you have leather, seat covers or seat heaters help. Same for steering wheel cover if you dont have a heated steering wheel.

Lastly, In extreme cold weather, it is a good idea to have a warm jacket, blanket, gloves, candles, and some sort of roadside emergency kit... slippery roads can ruin your day, trust me I wrote of my old accord when I slid out and went off the road. Another time me and a friend slid into a ditch and had to wait in the freezing cold for 3 hours for a tow truck. Not cool

Can think of much else ATM but if anything else comes to me Ill post again. Hope this helps. Peace!

 

seafoam in gas tank

 

Now that my driver's door has unfrozen (finally, the next day), I sprayed WD-40 liberally into all four door latches.

It seems sometimes the doors freeze against the rubber weatherstrips, but that wasn't my problem. The thing that froze was the latch, not the door itself.

Anyway, hope that WD-40 does the trick. It's a lot more difficult climbing from the passenger side to the driver's seat than it was, say, 20 years ago.

 

.

 

For the Latch. The lock/unlock mecanism in my maxima had a tendency to freeze. I dismantled the whole thing, cleaned and re assembled with di-electric grease (it is silicone based). Never had an issue since then, even after car wash.

For the seal.
Silicone lube on the door seals will prevent them from freezing. I usually do that as soon as I get out of the car wash. Wipe them dry and spray.

 

i live in maine and never once have had a problem with a no start, however we LOVE salt and sand on the roads for everything, because the car sits low, my underside is all pitted and rusty, the body will fall off the car before the engine dies....all i do in the winter is run iso-heat every other tank of gas (as i remember i have it in the trunk) now that i have an explorer as well maxie sees less REAL winter driving

 

damn, good call! my cars have always stuck at the seals. never really thought about doing anything about it tho haha.



whenever im gonna drop a window, ill elbow the door card a few times to break it loose so teh motor doesn't have to.


also, slamming doors, and trunks especially, is killer when its cold. set your trunk and hood down softly and you'll be copacetic


e: moreover, don't forget to run your ac compressor once a week or so if you don't use it regularly for defrosting purposes

 

atm = at the moment.... what u smokin bro lol

 

Does anyone else use 5w30 oil in the winter?

 

haha i know bud. just for lolz


i probably will. i usually change in april with summer oil and again in september with winter oil

 

Thinner oil helps consumption The scrapper ring has more facility to do its job.

shdwonthsun: Good advice for runing the AC, but mine died last summer... I get foggy windows these days... Arghhh

 

true true. my CSVT didn't have AC and that thing SUCKED with foggy windows. had to drive around in teh rain with the windows cracked

 

A/C compressor on ebay is about $125; I'd get that fixed quick. Foggy window in cold weather is a recipe for disaster...

 

Nobody mentioned battery maintenance!
If your battery is over 4 years old -- then have it tested.
This is also one of those maint. items that should simply be replaced BEFORE it dies.....like regular oil changes: sure it could go longer, but WHY?!
If it is a non-sealed unit....make sure the electrolyte levels are up to the fill lines, and ONLY use Distilled water to top-off.
Dead batteries in the winter SUCK, and it doesn't take much cold to kill-off a weak battery.

Proper weight Oil (5w-30) for everyone in the lower 48.

Make SURE your anti-freeze is up to the challenge of local temps!!!
It pays to KNOW how old the coolant is, and what TYPE you have in your engine.
Testing is not a simple as the little hydrometer "floaty-ball" thing anymore!
pH balance, and proper corrosion inhibitor levels are tested with special test strips anymore....so make SURE you either CHANGE your coolant -- or test it PROPERLY according to the VARIETY you have in the car.

THose are the obvious ones to me.....

gr

 

Actually I didnt have much problems going from california to washington, even after all the snow we had in 2008. Car started without problem. Even this year we got into the 20s in the daytime and I was out driving around in the snow/ice + salt/sanded roads.

Only had all-season tires on, nothing special beyond that.

I'd recommend going for the new battery, cold weather puts more demand on the starting system and if your battery is weak you wont be going anywhere.

Also, +1 for the remote start. Basically you want all your daily equipment to be in working order. Hate to have something not work in the cold/snow.

Finally, once the roads are driveable, go to those coin pressure wash stations and clean out wheel wells and as much of the underbody as you can. Just to help prevent rust.